After dazzling her fans with a bright blue ensemble on Friday, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, painted the palace red on Monday, dazzling in a brilliant crimson dress she has worn before and mingling with some of Britain's most famous acting stars.

Nature films aren’t what they used to be. So many of today’s nature films are glorified freak shows, edited for the post-MTV generation with loud, garish music, frenzied jump cuts and hysterical narration, with time out for equally loud, garish commercials.

PASADENA, Calif. — OK, so a lot has been said about the ’80s and how wretchedly, unremittingly, irredeemably awful the decade was — for art, for culture, for civility, for social discourse and last, but not least, for television itself.